


Dissonance

by extremelyperturbed



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Musical!Will, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-12
Updated: 2013-09-12
Packaged: 2017-12-26 08:59:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extremelyperturbed/pseuds/extremelyperturbed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written in response to this kinkmeme prompt:  </p><p>There is a piano in Baltimore's prison that prisoners can use instead of doing their daily walk. To keep his focus and not lose his mind Will uses it as much as he's allowed to and plays the most aggressive pieces of music ( something like this ? http://youtu.be/lQ1TaOh6eF4 ) he can think of on it- it's that or punching everyone.<br/>Hannibal catches him playing one day and thinks it's the most beautiful thing he has ever seen/heard, cue him being a creepy stalker and watching Will play.</p><p>Bonus:<br/>-Super aggressive piano duet where they only talk by playing and are sitting uncomfortably close to each other<br/>-Will sometimes plays a much more softer piece when Alana is there and it makes Hannibal jealous<br/>-Hannibal is livid when Will plays for Chilton once because he feels kind of sorry for him and Chilton is thankful to Will for killing Gideon<br/>-"I don't recognize this composer." "...it's Bowser's theme from Super Mario 64." ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tjSBtoaLqA )</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dissonance

It was the roiling sound of the music that piqued Hannibal’s attention. He walked towards the institution’s music room and was astonished to see that it was Will playing the piano, making the instrument almost growl and rumble with sounds that seem to warn of doom and disaster.

When Will finished the piece, Hannibal clapped and said, “An Ornstein piece?”

Will turned, startled but said nothing. He got up from the piano and walked off. 

“Will,” said Hannibal. “Jack wants your help on a case.” 

Will kept on walking. Hannibal was irked to have to run a little to get in front of him. 

Will rolled his eyes at him and looked to the side. “Go away, you bore me.”

Hannibal nearly snarled but knew that Dr. Chilton was watching. “Don’t you believe in saving others?”

“You probably did them so there’s no point in bothering to look. Tell Jack to go pound sand and eat shit,” said Will. 

“You didn’t tell me that you played piano.”

“There’s a lot of things I could’ve told you once upon a time. Now, you don’t deserve to know.” 

Will walked past him. 

Hannibal turned to Dr. Chilton. “You did not mention this to me.”

“I didn’t see it as important,” said Dr. Chilton.

“Music has been known to have therapeutic value for the mind,” scolded Hannibal. “How long has he been doing this?”

“Ever since he got here . . .”

“How . . .”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Lecter, I can’t really reveal anything a patient tells me in confidence,” said Dr. Chilton as he flashed a smug and superior smile. 

Hannibal wanted to rip Dr. Chilton’s teeth out the jam the roots into his eyes. Shut up, pig, he thought. 

“I will say, however,” said Dr. Chilton, not knowing how much he was increasing Hannibal’s blood pressure, “Will usually plays Bartok and some song he calls ‘A Violent Encounter - Shadow of the Colossus.’ He seems less agitated and more inclined to sleep after pounding on it for an hour or so.”

“What are the times that he plays?”

Dr. Chilton hemmed and hawed. “I don’t want to say. If he sees you, you’ll interrupt his playing.”

“Tell me, Chilton, or . . .” said Hannibal. “You won’t be dining at my table, any time soon.”

Dr. Chilton rolled his eyes at Hannibal in a manner that made Hannibal want to serve him at his next dinner. “It’s usually two in the afternoon, but I don’t want you to pester him or he might stop playing.” 

And so Hannibal decided to reschedule his appointments so he had that hour free.

***  
One afternoon, Hannibal quietly stood near the doorway to the musical room only to hear Alana say, “I didn’t know you played.”

He heard Will say, “Yes, I haven’t played in years but it seems that it just takes a little practice to get back into it. Want me to play you a song?”

“I’d love that.”

“What song?”

“You pick it,” said Alana.

“Ok, this is ‘The Sunlit Garden.’ I hope you like it,” said Will.

When Will played the song, Hannibal was surprised to find how unlike his usual repertoire it was. It was melancholy, sweet and completely lacking in the brutality and violence of his other sessions. 

“That was so beautiful,” said Alana. 

“If you like, I can play you something else,” said Will. 

“I’d love that.”

“I’m going to play ‘You Got It’ by Roy Orbison,” said Will. 

Hannibal told himself that it was sappy and sentimental and nothing to be bothered by but that didn’t explain the crescents his nails left in his hands from clenching them so tightly.

***  
Hannibal was again sitting, listening from the next room when he heard Will cheerfully tell Dr. Chilton, “Thanks for all the sheet music.”

“No problem. I mean you nailed the guy who played with my guts.”

“I think I’ve figured out how to play that song you wanted.”

“Really? You can play ‘Sweet Child o‘ Mine?’ by Guns ‘n‘ Roses?”

“Want to sing along?”

Will started to play and Dr. Chilton began to howl the lyrics at the top of his lungs. 

Hannibal never wanted to throttle Dr. Chilton more than he did right then.

***  
Will was playing a song Hannibal didn’t recognize. “Who composed that? I don‘t recognize it.”

Will stopped playing, gave him the stink eye and said, “It’s the Final Bowser Theme from Super Mario 64. What do you want?”

“I know how to play the piano as well. How about a duet?”

Will got up from his seat.

“I’ve been listening to you for quite a while. I must play with you. What do you want in exchange?” said Hannibal. 

“Want? I want my freedom, fucker!”

“I can get you a weekly pass outside for an afternoon.”

Will looked surprised then he gave Hannibal a twisted smile. “Supervised hours, right?”

“Of course, someone has to keep an eye on you.”

“And the supervisor would be you.”

“Yes.”

“No thanks. I’d rather be in my cell.”

“I could make it a half a day.”

“I’d take two hours if I was being supervised by Alana, not you.”

“Unacceptable.” 

“Then we have nothing to talk about.”

***

Will went to the music room only to find Hannibal playing the very beginning of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” on the piano. Will glared at Hannibal, who stopped playing and stared back. 

“I’m not moving from this seat until you play with me,” said Hannibal. “And I will be here every single day until you sit next to me and play this with me.”

Will turned around and walked out without saying a word.

***  
It was on the seventh day that Will finally walked into the music room and didn’t immediately turn away when he saw Hannibal there. He walked over, glanced at the sheet music, ignored Hannibal’s smile, gave him a push to make Hannibal make room on the seat. 

“Hello, Will.” 

Will said nothing to him but just immediately started to play his part of the duet.

Dr. Chilton watched from the doorway and watched in amazement as the two men played a duet perfectly in sync, both aggressively attacking the piano with their nimble fingers and expressing perfectly the music’s force and dissonance. He wondered if this is what the first audience felt and heard, remembering stories that a riot broke out during the premiere. He found it amazingly enervating.

“That was truly amazing, Dr. Lecter,” said Dr. Chilton after Will got up from the seat without saying a word and leaving the room.

“Yes, yes it was,” said Hannibal. 

Dr. Chilton wondered if he imagined the note of melancholy in his voice.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> I have a weird thing for musical!Will.
> 
> The following is a playlist for the ficlet. 
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS0x3u6pH3w is Ornstein’s “Suicide in an Airplane”
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXC_HaWtEC0 is Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 1. 
> 
> http://youtu.be/lQ1TaOh6eF4 is “A Violent Encounter - Shadow of the Colossus.”
> 
> http://youtu.be/F9sJxMoaR0s is “The Sunlit Garden” from Shoujo Kakumei Utena.
> 
> http://youtu.be/rdzF2h__Shw is a piano cover of Roy Orbison’s “You Got It.”
> 
> http://youtu.be/ff8UwvPK0G4 is a piano cover of Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns ‘n’ Roses.
> 
> http://youtu.be/GyUFzS_vHUI is Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring (Piano Duet).’


End file.
